Jili, al-

Jili, al-

(born 1365—died c. 1424) Islamic mystic. Little is known of his life, though he is believed to have visited India in 1387 and to have studied in Yemen (1393–1403). Influenced by Ibn al-'Arabi, he developed his doctrine of the “perfect man,” which he outlined in his Studies in Islamic Mysticism. He asserted that the perfectly moral individual can attain unity with God, a unity already experienced by Muhammad and the other prophets, and then become a channel by which the whole community can enjoy contact with the divine being.